


Best Worst Blanket Fort in the Universe

by rayeliann



Series: Two Shepards AU [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Two Shepards AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 16:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3296483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayeliann/pseuds/rayeliann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another from my Two Shepards AU.  </p><p>This takes place during ME2, on board a Cerberus controlled Normandy SR2, just after Horizon.<br/>--</p><p>Joe finds a way to cheer up/ calm down a particularly volatile Eleri.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Worst Blanket Fort in the Universe

Joseph Shepard was relaxing in his quarters, looking over the latest Cerberus mission reports, when his com crackled, carrying Kelly Chambers’ cheerful tones thought the room.  

“Commander? I hate to bother you off duty sir…” Joe sighed, setting down his data pad, his big fingers massaging his temples as his free hand pressed the button to respond.

“What?” His characteristically short reply wasn’t as sharp as it was tired.

“Well… It’s Shepard - the other Shepard - I’ve noticed some general moodiness on her part and I thought you might-”

“Where?” Joe cut Kelly’s reply short, already rising from his desk.

* * *

He found her in the armory, wearing a pair of oversized black sweatpants and a cropped grey tank that showed off her sculpted waist and abdomen, as well as her muscled arms. She’d pulled her wild brown hair back into a ponytail that bobbed with every punch she buried in Jacob Taylor’s swinging punching bag. Her cheeks were flushed pink with exertion, and her face was set in a look of determination, her steely eyes blazing.  A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Eleri’s neck, along her spine, and Joe watched it with momentary fascination. Biotics sparked over her skin as she stepped forward, sinking a knee into the bag violently. He had to admire her technique. That bag had certainly seen better days.

“El…” He said cautiously as he approached her slowly. He’d learned long ago not to sneak up on Eleri when she was in this state of mind. She grunted in acknowledgement, but continued to drive her fists into her target. Joe had noticed a marked change in Eleri’s behavior since Horizon. She’d been charging recklessly into danger, throwing herself into harm’s way with little regard to her own safety. She’d even asked him if she was different than before- if she had changed.   

“Eleri.” Joe repeated, this time touching her shoulder as he steeled himself for the attack. She turned, swinging, and their biotic fields clashed brightly, sending a static jolt up Joe’s spine. Eleri stood in front of him, panting, her jaw set, and her eyes still tinged in blue. Joe steered Eleri back to the elevator, and up to their cabins in silence. It was a strange sensation… he never said much, but she usually made up for it with cheerful or flirtatious chatter. He could ask her what was bothering her… but if she wanted him to know, wouldn’t she have told him? She’d chosen to take her frustrations out on the boxing equipment instead of confiding in a friend. They _were_ friends…weren’t they?

Eleri retreated to her cabin without protestations. Through the paper-thin walls, she heard Joe’s door close, and his music come back on. He must be doing paperwork. He only played music when he did paperwork. She shrugged out of her sweaty work-out clothes, and stepped into a cold shower. She liked the noise showers made. She liked to stand just under the stream of water, close her eyes, and let it surround her, like an enveloping white-noise.

Eleri’s thoughts wandered, and her shoulders began to ache from the weight that figuratively rested on them. Even with two of them, how were they supposed to pull this off? As she worried, her fingers slid over lightly glowing scars, entranced by the red light. It was strange to think of being reconstructed. That she had lost two whole years. Two years that she had been nothing and the universe had just kept going.  Humpty-Dumpty. But had all the King’s horses and all the King’s men truly put her back together again? Or was Kaidan right? _Had_ she changed?

A thumping on her door brought her back to reality, and she shut the shower off, wrapped herself in a towel, and trailed wet foot prints through her cabin as she padded toward the door. Joe’s cool gaze noted her outfit (or lack thereof) and completely unfazed, he forged ahead.

“Put on some clothes. I have something to show you.” He said in even tones, but the hint of amusement curled the corners of his mouth.

“Oh? Do you have an objection to this?” She fired back coyly, more out of habit than anything else.

“It’s a bit…” his dark eyes sparkled as he gave her a once over. She leaned against the door-frame, a pose she had picked up from an Asari model on one of those ads on Illium. “ _Distracting_.” Joe finished with a smile. Eleri couldn’t help but smile back. Good ole Joe, always up for some harmless flirting.

Eleri rolled her eyes at him, retreating back into her room with the reassurance she would be over as soon as she put on some ‘acceptable clothes’. ‘Acceptable clothes’ turned out to be an oversized T-shirt with a Krogan on it ( _where had she even gotten this?_ ), and a pair of plaid boxer shorts.

Eleri knocked lightly on Joe’s door, which promptly swept open, into a dark room. She frowned into the dark, squinting to find Joe. As her eyes adjusted, she noted that things were not in their usual, neat places. The bed had been stripped, and the blankets were piled in what looked like a gigantic heap in the middle of the room. The desk and chair had been dragged closer to the bed, half lost beneath the mass of pillows and blankets.

“No…” She gasped in disbelief and grabbing Joe’s arm in excitement as it dawned on her what she was seeing. Joe grinned at her, lifting the corner of one of the blankets to reveal the inside. It was poorly constructed as far as blanket-forts went, but Eleri supposed not everyone had her expertise.

She wiggled into the tent-fort, and beckoned Joe to join her. There was barely room for his broad shoulders, and Eleri felt herself scrunched up against his strong chest. She was grinning now, her mood lifted, and the strangest feeling of contentment bubbled in her chest. Here, in this moment, there were no worries. No Collectors, no Reapers. Just possibly the world’s worst blanket fort.  She couldn’t believe that Joe remembered her mentioning it. That conversation in the Mako, on some uncharted, un-mined, unremarkable planet felt like ages ago. Two years, to be specific. But for them, it was a lifetime.   

“Feeling better?” Joe asked softly. It was dark, and she couldn’t quite make out his features, but she could hear the smile in his voice, and felt the rumble of his words where she was pressed against his chest.

“Joe, this fort is pathetic!” she replied happily, leaning into him, shoulders and foreheads bumping playfully. Her nose bushed his cheek as her voice softened, and she added a quiet, “Thank you.” Eleri heard Joe snort, as if he were about to defend the honor of his sad little blanket fort, but there was the sound of something sliding, and the comforter that Joe had used for the ceiling sagged. With a _whoosh!_ , it collapsed completely in, burying them.

Later, Joker would swear he could hear Eleri laughing all the way from his seat in the cockpit.

**Author's Note:**

> Here are some of the baseline points for the Two Shepards AU- in case anyone is interested or confused.  
> Basically, the idea is that there are Two Commander Shepards:
> 
> Joseph Shepard (Earthborn War Hero) - Flockofflamingos  
> and
> 
> Eleri Shepard* (Earthborn Sole Survivor)  
> *Shepard is actually a chosen last name for Eleri, since she needed one when she enlisted, and didn’t know her own, she “borrowed” the last name of the person who helped to pull her out of the gutter and put her on the track to Alliance Military.
> 
>  
> 
> They are NOT related. I’ve seen bro/sis shep AUs before, which is a fun idea, but not what is going on here.
> 
>  
> 
> Since Shepard’s first name is never mentioned, we headcanon that the two were actually mixed up quite often (Basically Shepard is like Smith or Jones and a super common).
> 
> They originally met during N& training, and began an intense rivalry, each eager to prove they were the better Shepard.
> 
> Thanks to an error in paperwork and communication, both were put forward as candidates for Human Spectres and assigned to the Normandy/Eden Prime shakedown run with Nihlus.
> 
> Both were affected by the beacon- both ARE Commander Shepard.  
> Both are Renegon Alignment - Though Eleri’s split is more of a 3/4 renegade.
> 
> Headcanon that they split captain's quarters into two cabins after taking over the Normandy (ME1 is haphazard, but when Cerberus rebuilds the Normandy, they account for two captains cabins- the loft is gigantic. But the walls are thin.)
> 
> Eleri romanced Kaidan in ME1 (Horizon did NOT go well - she feels betrayed) and Joe was crushing something terrible on that cute Quarian Tali.
> 
> Eleri and Joseph were still hardcore rivals in ME1 with a lot of good-natured teasing and very mild sexual tension and occasional flirting (Eleri is very flirtatious with EVERYONE)
> 
>  
> 
> Cerberus wasn’t entirely sure which one of them they needed, so they brought both of them back($$$).
> 
> They grow to depend on each other in ME2, being the only people who can really understand what the other went through. Each takes resurrection differently. Joe experiences some body dysmorphia and possibly depression? while Eleri grows reckless, constantly chasing the next adrenaline high and worries that she was not put back together correctly.


End file.
